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2nd grade sub plans: science

A 2nd grade science block for a substitute: “A Seed Grows”, a 107-word nonfiction passage about plants, with 5 questions and an answer key, and a K-W-L sheet for before and after reading. 5 steps, from handing it out to going over the answers.

Checked October 30, 2026. Made from Peabody Teach's own passages, worksheets and brain break cards.

Make the whole day at 2nd grade ▸

The science block

Science: A Seed Grows

  1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about plants, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
  2. Hand out “A Seed Grows”, a nonfiction passage of 107 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
  3. Read it aloud once while the class follows along with a finger. Then partners read it to each other in whisper voices.
  4. Students answer the 5 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
  5. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 A Seed Grows (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Slow-motion pour (45 sec, silent). Pretend to pour a glass of water from a heavy jug, as slowly as you possibly can. Lift it, tip it, pour, set it down. Take your time with each part.

The sheets, on their own pages

Subbing 2nd grade

Second graders can work on their own for fifteen or twenty minutes, answer questions in sentences, and usually know the class jobs. A clear schedule on the board does most of the managing for you.

  • Write the schedule on the board first thing and cross off each block as you finish it.
  • Use partners for checking answers, not for doing them.
  • Have the extra-time sheet ready: early finishers are the start of most noise.

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